The Apostles Paul, Andrew, and James

CultureSpanish

Dateca. 1150-1170

MediumLimestone with traces of polychrome

DimensionsOverall: 31 5/8 × 27 1/8 × 7 1/2 inches (80.33 × 68.91 × 19.05 cm)

Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust

Object number32-164

On View

On view

Gallery Location

Collections

European Art

Terms

Exhibition History

Spanish Medieval Art, The Cloisters, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, December 15, 1954-January 30, 1955, no. 31, as Three Apostles.

Songs of Glory: Medieval Art from 900-1500, Oklahoma Museum of Art, Oklahoma City, January 22-April 29, 1985, no. 1, as Apostle Relief, with the Apostles Paul, Andrew, and James.

Catalonia and the Mediterranean at the Height of the Romanesque, Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, Barcelona, February 28, 2008-May 18, 2008, no. 10, as Relieve con tres apóstoles: Pablo, Andrés y Santiago.

Gallery Label

These three apostles, Saints Paul, Andrew and James, are identified by the names inscribed on the books they carry. They were originally part of the sculptural decoration for what was one of Europe's most splendid Romanesque cathedrals, in the town of Vic, north of Barcelona, in Spain. Today, only portions of the Cathedral remain. This fragment most likely formed part of a sculpted frieze of apostles and prophets flanking Christ in Majesty, located over one of the large doors, or portals of the building. Most medieval sculpture was entirely painted, and traces of paint may be seen on the background, the inscribed books and in the angular folds of the draperies.

Provenance

Cathedral of St. Peter, Vic, Catalonia, Spain;

Castell Finca Cuadras, near Vic, Spain;

José Gudiol (1904-1985), Vic, Spain, by 1932;

Purchased from Gudiol, through Harold Woodbury Parsons, by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1932.

Published References

Arthur Kingsley Porter, Spanish Romanesque Sculpture, vol. 1 (Florence: Pantheon, 1928), 73, (repro.), as Fragment from Altar of the Cathedral, The Apostles Paul, Andrew, and James.

The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, The William Rockhill Nelson Collection, 2^nd ed. (Kansas City, MO: William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 1941), 84-85, (repro.), as Apostle Relief.

The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, The William Rockhill Nelson Collection, 3^rd ed. (Kansas City, MO: William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 1949), 106, (repro.), as Apostle Relief.

Géza De Francovich, Benedetto Antelami: architetto e scultore, e l'arte del suo temp, vol. 1 (Milan: Electa, 1952), 84-85n115.

Joan Ainaud, “Dades inèdites sobre la Catedral Romànica de Vich,” Ausa 5 (1953): 207, as Sant Pau, Sant Andreu, i Sant Jaume.

Spanish Medieval Art, exh. cat. (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1954), unpaginated, as Three Apostles.

“Ce la tour vient d’entrer au Metropolitan de New York,” Connaissance des arts 102 (August 1960): 53, (repro.), as Les Trois Apôtres.

Marilyn Stokstad, “Three Apostles from Vich,” Bulletin (The Nelson Gallery and Atkins Museum) 4, no. 11 (August 1970): 5-7, 9, 11, 17, 19, 21, 22n1, 23n8, (repro.).

Marilyn Stokstad, “Romanesque and Gothic Art,” Apollo 96, no. 130 (December 1972): 486, 488, (repro.), as Three Apostles in relief: SS. Paul, Andrew and James.

Ross E. Taggart and George L. McKenna, eds., Handbook of the Collections in The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, Kansas City, Missouri, vol. 1, Art of the Occident, 5^th ed. (Kansas City, MO: William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 1973), 62, (repro.), as Three Apostles.

Marilyn Stokstad, “Romanesque Sculpture in American Collections. XV. Kansas City, Missouri and Lawrence, Kansas.” Gesta 16, no. 1 (1977): 52, (repro.), as Relief with Three Apostles.

Paul Williamson, Catalogue of Romanesque Sculpture (London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1983), 102, 116, (repro.).

David Mickenberg, Songs of Glory: Medieval Art from 900-1500, exh. cat. (Oklahoma City, OK: Oklahoma Museum of Art: 1985), 68-69, (repro.) as Apostle Relief, with the Apostles Paul, Andrew, and James.

Marilyn Stokstad, Medieval Art (New York: Harper and Row, 1986), 215, (repro.), as St. Paul, St. Andrew, and St. James.

Ellen R. Goheen, The Collections of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1988), 32, (repro.), as The Apostles Paul, Andrew, and James.

Xavier Barral i Altet, “The Last Supper of the Vic Cathedral Façade Rediscovered,” Gesta 28, no. 2 (1989): 121, 125n6, (repro.).

Walter Cahn, Romanesque Sculpture in American Collections, vol. 2, New York and New Jersey, Middle and South Atlantic States, the Midwest, Western and Pacific States (Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 1999), 222-23, (repro.), as Three apostles. Cathedral of Sant Pere, Vich.

Gene Mittler and Rosalind Ragans, Understanding Art (New York: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, 2007), 38, (repro.), as Three Apostles.

Josep M Trullen i Thomas, Museu Episcopal de Vic: guía de las colecciones (Barcelona: Museu Episcopal de Vic, 2007), 83.

Manuel Castiñeiras and Jordi Camps, El románico y el Mediterráneo: Cataluña, Toulouse y Pisa, exh. cat. (Barcelona: Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, 2008), 251, (repro.), as Relieve con tres apóstoles: Pablo, Andrés y Santiago.

Information about a particular artwork or image, including provenance information, is based upon historic information and may not be currently accurate or complete. Research on artwork and images is an ongoing process, and the information about a particular artwork or image may not reflect the most current information available to the Museum. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about a particular artwork or image, please e-mail provenance@nelson-atkins.org.